Soubi Agatsuma
Soubi Agatsuma (我妻草灯 Agatsuma Sōbi) is a twenty year old college student studying Japanese art, and is one of the main protagonists of the story. Soubi was the former Sentouki (Fighter) of the late Seimei Aoyagi, and is now the Fighter of Seimei's younger brother, Ritsuka Aoyagi . Background Not much is known about Soubi's background. He lost both of his parents when he was six years old, and enrolled in Shichisei Gakuen (Seven Moons Academy), a school for Fighters, some time after. In the Seven Moons Academy, he became the student of Ritsu Minami, who was said to have been the Sacrifice of Soubi's mother (which was why they met). Ritsu became a very influential role in Soubi's life, and it is Ritsu's strict teaching that raised Soubi to become the well-known fighter he is. But despite being teacher and student, their relationship was closer to that of a master and his slave. Ritsu was also responsible for getting rid of his ears at a very young age, explaining to Soubi that he did it to make him a better fighter. Wether it was a consensual act or not was not specified on Soubi's part, but it was hinted by another teacher at the school that Ritsu had desired Soubi because he had a face similar to his mother's. Soubi is later partnered with Seimei, whom Ritsu chose specially (Soubi doesn't have a destinined Sacrifice because he is what is called a "blank fighter"). Since Seimei carved his true name, "Beloved", into the skin of Soubi's neck, it is now Soubi's name. They became and are a well-known pair for their strength in battle, until Seimei was supposedly murdered by being set to fire in the classroom of Ritsuka Aoyagi, his younger brother's, elementary school. Story As ordered, Soubi contacted Ritsuka Aoyagi after Seimei's "death" and became Ritsuka’s Fighter unit, introducing him to the world of Fighters and Sacrifices. However, the fact that Soubi now fights for Ritsuka as "Loveless", is considered taboo because there is not a name-based Fighter/Sacrifice bond between them. The lack of this bond causes their power to be halved, and in Soubi's case, his "Beloved" markings bleed in battle. It was Seimei's command to "fall in love with Ritsuka", but over the course of the story, Soubi comes to truly care for him. He acts like a protective older brother, and is very possessive of Ritsuka, if his frequent "frightening faces", according to classmate Kio Kaidou and the Zero pair (Youji Sagan and Natsuo Sagan) are anything to go by. When Ritsuka was searching for the truth about Seimei's death, he commanded Soubi to tell him everything that he knows. However, it seems that Soubi, despite saying that he'll do anything Ritsuka wanted, knows more about Seimei than he will divulge - most importantly, the "true" Seimei that Ritsuka refuses to face. Soubi later finds Seimei's true Fighter, Nisei Akame spying on Ritsuka (presumably on Seimei's orders). Nisei's apparent hatred for Soubi in jealousy as a fellow Fighter leads him to call Seimei, to let Soubi "hear the voice you want to hear most...Or is it the voice you want to hear least?" When Soubi hears Seimei's voice on the other side of the connection, he becomes shocked and silently upset, because Seimei is not only very much alive, but has also found and has been using a new Fighter. Later, he goes to Ritsuka's house and says, "I'm begging you Ritsuka. Run away and take me with you... Please. If you don't, I could become a despicable being", showing the extent that he was affected by the incident. The next day, he's found furiously painting, and he asks Kio, "Why am I so easily thrown away?" Although Soubi most likely thinks Seimei threw him away for Nisei, it seems Seimei's influence over him is still absolute (as he declares in Volume 5, "Seimei is my God"). When Seimei infiltrates the Seven Moons Academy and meets Ritsuka for the first time after his faked death, Soubi opposes him, asking him "not to make Ritsuka suffer", but when Seimei tells him to break a window so he can escape, stating that "No matter what, you will always obey my orders", Soubi submits and shatters the window. As he does so, he says, "Please forgive me." showing that it was against his free will. Character & Relationships Soubi is abnormally good at hiding his emotions, but at times, his weaknesses and inner conflicts show through his mask. He's been groomed to become an object, and has lived his life as an object, but instead of being bitter, he is a "good" person. He is very cold indifferent toward other individuals, but still has opened up and bonded with many of the other characters. Kio often asked him to go out to eat with him and talked to him, but only honestly befriended Kio after asking about a butterfly tattoo on his neck and learning of the vow Kio made when he had it done. Despite finding Kio annoying, Soubi cares for him a lot, and when Kio was kidnapped, Ritsuka and Soubi rushed to his rescue. After fighting the male Zero pair, Natsuo and Youji, he offered to let them live with him because they had nowhere to go, despite their cruelty in driving a nail through his hand during the battle. They soon grow close to each other, and the two help Soubi and Ritsuka on several occasions. They even choose to live with Soubi over Nagisa after their battle with Bloodless. On several occasions Soubi teases and makes Ritsuka’s teacher, Hitomi Shinonome cry. Though his dislike for her is genuine, it was for her safety that he fought the male Zero pair in the first place. Later, when Hitomi finally finds the courage to call him to ask about Ritsuka, who has been absent from school for several days, Soubi plays a cruel trick on her by telling her about Ritsuka's mother's abuse of her son, and tells her there's nothing she can do about it anyway, expecting her to pull back after hearing this. Instead, Hitomi passionately states that although she is scared of Ritsuka's mother, she will confront her for Ritsuka's sake. To this, Soubi replies that he may like teachers a little better because of her. Gallery File:Soubi2.jpg|Soubi as he is depicted in the manga. lovelessQn1qlyjdmo1_1280.png|10 years later. Trivia * Soubi is sometimes looked down upon by fans due to his poor social skills when interacting with other characters in the series. * In the anime character commentary(also known as SD Theater) featured in the Loveless Complete Series DVD Collection, Soubi has a habit of being extremely hyper and outgoing. This often results in Ritsuka questioning if Soubi is actually the "real Soubi". Soubi then replies stating that he doesn't feel the need to be serious since he is not required to take on his role as a Fighter during the commentary. * In the third episode of SD Theater, Soubi claims that he is practically blind without his glasses; he says that he can't "see a lion that is two kilometers away" without his glasses. Ritsuka then objects saying people with normal eyesight can not achieve that level of eyesight either (with or without glasses). In conclusion, it is still questionable whether Soubi's eyesight is glasses dependent or simply aesthetic to Soubi's attire. * Soubi and Ritsu share some similarities: they both smoke, wear glasses, butterflies, and at one time, Ritsu had long hair like Soubi. * In one of the more recent chapters, Soubi has been revealed to be able to interfere with memories, as he uses his powers to make Hitomi Shinonome believe that she is meeting Youji and Natsuo Sagan for the first time when they transfer into Ritsuka's class. This has caused fans to speculate that Soubi may have been the one to cause Ritsuka's amnesia on Seimei's orders. Category:Fighter Category:Male Characters